Wright State University
16-15
Milwaukee (Semifinals)
17-14
Women Advance to Championship Game; Defeat Milwaukee 57-55
3/14/2008 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wright State trailed by as much as 10 early in the second half, but the Raiders responded with a 30-13 run and held on in the final minute for a 57-55 win over the Milwaukee Panthers in the Horizon League women's basketball semifinals in Green Bay Friday night.
WSU led 12-8 after an Erica Richardson jumper with 12:34 remaining in the first half, but Milwaukee regained the lead with eight straight points. The Raiders went back ahead 17-16 on a Shey Peddy three at the 5:45 mark, only to see the Panthers close the period with a 10-4 run, all coming from Traci Edwards, to take a 26-21 advantage into the break.
The Raiders shot 56 percent in the first compared to 47 percent for the Panthers, but Wright State committed 16 turnovers to just 12 for Milwaukee, resulting in a 14-8 UWM edge in points off of turnovers.
Richardson opened the second half with a layup, but the Panthers followed with seven unanswered points, including four more by Edwards, in building their biggest lead of the night at 33-23 with 16:37 remaining.
Milwaukee still led 38-31 until eight consecutive Wright State points, capped off by a Charne Dixon layup, gave the Raiders the lead back at 39-38 at the 7:04 mark. Two Edwards foul shots tied the game at 46 with 2:38 left, but WSU looked to be in command as four Peddy foul shots along with a Whitney Lewis three made it 53-46 with 57.5 seconds remaining.
The Panthers, though, would not go down quietly as a Lindsay Laur three-point play and two Jodie McClain free throws trimmed the deficit to 53-51 with still 29.7 seconds left. Milwaukee had a chance to tie following a turnover, but committed a turnover of its own and after Kanisha Ward missed the front end of a one-and-one, Sierra Crayton came up with the offensive rebounds and hit two foul shots at the 18.6 mark to make it 55-51.
Edwards cut the margin to one with a three-point play at the 8.2-second mark, but LaShawna Thomas hit two free throws with 6.4 seconds left to put the Raiders up 57-54.
McClain made the first of two foul shots with 1.5 seconds left and intentionally missed the second in an attempt to give the Panthers a chance to tie the game, but Lewis came up with the defensive rebound as time expired.
The win marked the first time that the Raiders have ever won in the city of Green Bay in 24 tries. WSU is 0-19 against the Phoenix in Green Bay all-time and had lost four tournament games there (1991 vs. DePaul, 1996 vs. Butler, 1997 vs. Detroit, 2003 vs. Loyola) before Friday night.
The Raiders shot 53 percent for the game compared to 42 percent for Milwaukee and also held a 26-20 rebounding advantage, resulting in a 9-4 edge in second-chance points. WSU also led in points in the paint (30-22) and points off of turnovers (31-22). Both teams shot well from the foul line as Wright State was 14 of 18, including 12 of 14 the final 20 minutes, while the Panthers were 20 of 24.
Peddy paced the Raiders with 16 points and added six rebounds and six assists, while Crayton had 12 points and eight boards off the bench, with all 12 points and five rebounds coming in the second half. Richardson also had 12 points.
Edwards led all scorers with 25 for Milwaukee (17-14), but no other Panther had more than eight.
Wright State, now 16-15 on the season, will take on Cleveland State, a 90-66 winner over Green Bay in the other semifinal, for the championship Sunday afternoon at 1:00 Eastern in Green Bay. The game will be telecast live on ESPNU with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
